To The Way It Was
by Ariaaa
Summary: From the writers of Why We Can't Go On,, The One More Secret, 16 Years Later The Untold Story, & The Places You've Come To Fear The Most comes this story 4months in the future. Aria's lost, Emily's alone, Spencer's moving on, Hanna's confused & Jenna...
1. Chapter 1

To The Way It Was Chapter One: When Did We Lose It All

Aria walked up to the front of the school building. Things were so different now, this place didn't seem like the same place she'd been attending for the last three years.  
Aria went in and walked to her locker alone, and in silence. As she reached her english class, she fell into an old pattern.  
Looking to the front of the room, it felt empty. With a woman standing there as opposed to , it never seemed right anymore.

Spencer looked into her mirror. Today was the day. Her first day at Charrywood Private Academy. Her parents had transferred her because the thought that Rosewood Day was becoming a bad influence on her. It was a long drive, but that didn't matter to her parents. She knew they would never say it, but they really just wanted to get her away from the scandals of the mess Allison left couldn't leave behind headlines. From now on, she had to be the perfect daughter...

Emily tok a deep breath in. She was home sick... again. And, why? because she had no one. No where to turn to. She couldn't go out and face the world, not after what she'd done. She could barely face her mother...

Hanna looked up at her step mother to be in the long white gown. Why had she come here? Would her father really have made her go to choose a dress with this woman if Hanna had requested not to. But she knew the answer. Yes he would. It was a 'bonding experience.'  
Well, Screw bonding,

Jenna looked out her window. The black dress she wore felt uncomfortable. Somehow it felt wrong, wearing the same dress to Toby's funeral that she'd worn to Allison.  
It felt even worse knowing she wouldn't be able to see him. But there was nothing she could do... 


	2. Chapter 2

To The Way It Was Chapter One: When Did We Lose It All

Spencer drove up in front of the building after the hour long drive. She felt tired and dishevled. Waking up early did not agree with her.  
Spencer got out and walked in. The building was huge and old fashioned made of cream stone and walls woven with ivy, even on the inside. She didn't know how she was going to find the office, but as she turned she saw the sign clear as day on a frosted glass door.  
Spencer fidgited with her red plaid skirt, then went into the office and up to the receptionist, "I need to pick up my schedule," Spencer said quietly, leaning on the counter.  
"Name?" The receptionist asked turning to a file cabinet.  
"Hastings. Spencer Hastings," Spencer said looking over the receptionists shoulder to try and see the other names on the files.  
"Here we are. First day Spencer?" The receptionist asked cheerily.  
"Yes," Spencer said looking down at her schedule.  
"Would you like me to find you an escort for the day?"  
Spencer looked up, "Uh-No, I'm sure I can figure it out."  
"Okay, well you're first class," She pointed to Honers English Lit. & Comp. on the top of her page, "Is just down the hall to your left, and if you need anything else today, just ask."  
"Okay, Thank you," Spencer nodded and left. She searched the halls for several minutes trying to figue out the ordering of the numbering on the lockers, until finally she found her own. She only had her notebook, a pen, a pencil, and her purse. She really had nothing to put into the locker.  
Spencer reacged into her purse and pulled out a picture and a small magnet, and hung the picture of Her Emily, Hanna, Aria, and Allison on the door of her locker.

Aria gathered her things and prepared to leave class.  
"Aria could I speak to you for a moment?" She heard call from the front of the room.  
Aria felt awkward walking up to the desk now. Before she would have walked up watching Ezra close the blind, then lean forward on the desk to look him in the eye. No she simply stood there awkwardly, moving her books side to side in her arms.  
"Aria, are you okay?" Aria realized that had closed the door and pulled the shade and was now behind her desk, but it felt wrong, someone else acting out Ezra's patterns.  
"Of course, I'm fine,' Aria said looking a little confused, but trying to smile so that she could get out of this as fast as possible, "Why?"  
"You've just seamed distracted lately. I heard from that you were very bright in english, but you're... slipping." said.  
"Its just..." Aria knew what she was about to say, and she also knew that it was extremely stupid to say it, but she did, "I'd sort of... built a relationship with . He helped me out a lot... It just feels awkward with him gone."  
"A lot of students build strong relationships with their teachers," Ms. Haltz said walking out from behind her desk, "Especially ones in subjects they enjoy. "  
You have no Idea. Aria thought.  
"And he particularly seamed to take an interest in you. He said you had a lot of potential, but he also said this might happen. That you would, be troubled." said.  
Did he have to make it so damn obvious?  
"He said that when you did, I should give you this. I see it too Aria. You've got potential. Maybe this will help you remember why you started writing."  
Aria looked down at the large manilla envelope, "Have you read it?"  
"No," shook her head.  
Aria nodded, "Thank you."  
Arua walked out of the room and opened the envelope. Inside was a this packed of printed paper, and a small letter adressed to Aria... 


	3. Chapter 3

To The Way it Was: Chapter 3

Emily sat and looked out her bedroom window at the street below her. Her new room had a great window seat, but it just wasn't the same looking out at the tall buildings that surrounded their new apartment instead of the wide, tree-lined streets of Rosewood. They'd been here for over a month now, and it still didn't feel like home. All Emily wanted was to go back to Rosewood, go back to her old school, be with her old friends, and have things like they used to be. But they couldn't. Things could never go back to the way they were before….before 'A' and all her (or his? They still didn't know) scheming and ruining of lives.

And it wasn't just Emily's life A had ruined. She'd heard through the grapevine that Spencer had been transferred to Cherrywood Private Academy ("for young ladies"; they'd always sniggered over that bit of the name). Now she was one of the uniform-wearing, straight A-getting, prim and proper automatons that they'd always felt kind of sorry for. Not that Spencer hadn't always got straight As anyway. But there was something so…soulless about that school. Emily wondered how Spencer was getting on. She wished she could just pick up the phone and ask. But that was impossible, the way things were now.

Hanna sighed and sat down on one of the uncomfortable-but-beautiful chairs outside her soon-to-be stepmother's dressing room. She didn't want to be here, and as far as she could tell, she didn't need to be. Katie was the one going into the dressing room with her mother, buttoning or lacing up each new gown the assistant brought them, and generally making herself busy giving orders and critiquing the dresses with what seemed to be a voice of experience. _How many wedding dresses has SHE bloody well bought in her life_? Hanna thought to herself, grumpily. _As if anyone would marry her, anyway, with her stupid horsey chin and giant forehead._

The thought cheered her up slightly. She'd taken an immediate dislike to her new stepsister the moment they'd met, and though the stepmother didn't seem too bad, as far as stepmothers went, Hanna still didn't like or really want anything to do with her. Deep down she'd always hoped that her Dad would realize his mistake and come back to them, and they could be a family again. Now that SHE was in the picture, that was probably never going to happen. And stupid Katie just made matters worse by being so excited and super-helpful about everything.

"What about this one? Hanna?"

"Mmm, sorry, what?" Hanna looked up to see her stepmother-to-be in yet another long, flowing, white gown. Honestly, they were all starting to look the same. This one had an A-line silhouette, with ruching at the side, and heavy beadwork on the bodice…but hadn't the last twenty also had those exact same things? She sighed. This was so incredibly boring.

"Oh, that looks great. I, um, I think I liked the last one better, though," she made up. She couldn't even remember what the last one had looked like. Luckily, she had randomly hit on the right thing to say.

"Oh, do you? Me too!" her stepmother smiled. "So I think we can safely take this out of the running. So, Katie," she turned back to her daughter, "that leaves the Sposabella with the lace and the one without, and the Marchesa ballgown, and the Vera Wang, and the Anne Barge – or wait, did we decide against that one…"

Hanna groaned inwardly and stopped listening. It was going to be a LONG afternoon. And then when she got home, who was she going to talk to about it? Not her Mom, obviously. She needed to bitch and vent, and there was no one left she could do that with. A had seen to that.


	4. Chapter 4

Spencer walked out to the parking lot. She didn't really like her new school… it just wasn't somewhere that she felt _right_. She and her friends had been the ones to make fun of the Charrywood girls, and yet, here she was- a Charrywood Girl.

She sighed. Her first day had been a complicated one to say the least. She had so much work to catch up on. It was daunting. She wasn't the type of person to give up so easily, but she was starting to wonder what the point of her life was. _Why_ did she have to be the perfect daughter with the perfect friends, the perfect reputation, and the perfect grades? _Why_ did it even matter?

She fiddled with her keys trying to unlock the car door manually. She had been in such a daze that she had forgotten to click the unlock button. She finally managed to get the door unlocked and she opened the door throwing her books onto the passenger side haphazardly. She was getting to a point where she didn't care and she wasn't so sure that she didn't like it. It was nice to just let go. Maybe her friends were right… maybe she was a bit anal and did need to chill out.

Emily couldn't help but feel lonely. She was in a new place. It was completely natural… but it was more than that. She didn't have anyone. She didn't have her bestfriends (or were they still her friends?) and she didn't have her family. No one was there with her. She just felt so… so empty, without feeling. It was like someone had come inside her and sucked all of the joy out of her life.

She didn't want to lie. She didn't even know why she did. But she did… and that was what counted. She lied to everyone. No one was spared… not even herself. She lied to the world and it did as much damage to the outside world as it did to her. It had torn her to pieces… her heart, her soul, her body, her mind… it just couldn't take it. She couldn't take it. It just wasn't healthy.

Aria turned the letter over in her hands. She couldn't read it. It wasn't that she didn't want to, because that was exactly what she wanted to do. She wanted to rip that letter open and read it. She knew that it was from him… she just knew that it was. She didn't need to read the letter to know that much. But she couldn't do it. She just couldn't. If she read the letter then it would only make her sadder and want him more… and she knew that she couldn't do that. She had to move on. He wasn't there anymore and she needed to realize that. Her little schoolgirl fantasy was over. She _had_ to accept that. It didn't matter if she wanted to or not. There were no ands, ifs, or buts about it. It simply was.

She dropped the letter in her bag. She closed her eyes trying not to think about it or what might be in it. Instead, her mind was flooded with thoughts of all the times she had spent with him. _'This isn't good Aria… You have to let him go.'_ She opened her eyes and continued down the hall searching her brain for anything to distract her.

Hanna flopped down on her bed. She finally had gotten out of that bloody white wedding shop. '_Hah!_' she thought, '_And I thought white was supposed to stand for purity…' _Her stepmother or soon-to-be-stepmother rather would never be pure in Hanna's eyes. The only pure image that Hanna could conjure up was one of her, her mother, and her father… a happy united family. Kate and Isabel didn't exist in that world. Unfortunately for Hanna, her imagination was more active than reality. Reality had told her that she wasn't going to get what she wanted. Reality had screwed her over.

She took a deep breath and sat up. What was she going to do? She didn't have anyone to go to. Sure, she had her dad… and Kate and Isabel, but they didn't count. She wasn't going to get all lovey-dovey with the people who ruined her perfect image of her life. And then her friends… well the tokens had fallen in place there. She couldn't talk to any of them and it made her sad. She didn't want to distance herself, but she felt herself slipping from the grip of the social realm. She was beginning to not care

|(: X3 :)|


	5. Chapter 5

It was getting late when Spencer got home. She'd stopped in a small town between Rosewood and the empty hillside of the Charrywood grounds, and lost track of time. It was nearly seven as she pulled up in front of her house. She went inside the barn/loft she'd built last summer. She was grateful that Melisa had finally moved out. It was the only goo thing to come out of this god forsaken mess.

She went upstairs and flipped on the lights, then jumped in surprise.

"Alex! What are you doing here?" She rushed over to give him a hug.

After she pulled away he spoke, "I have something I want to tell you. Some very important news," Alex smiled in a snickerish way that made Spencer laugh.

"What?" She asked excitedly.

"One thing first…" And he leaned down to give her a kiss. At some point, neither of then were really sure when, they started to fall and ended up bouncing on spencer's bed, 'Ah!" Spencer shrieked in surprise and the both laughed. Spencer reached for one of the pillows above her head and hit Alex with it.

"Ah! What was that for?" Spencer just smiled and laughed, but she tried to run away when she saw the expression in his eyes change. She rolled over trying to get off the bed, but he wrapped his arms around her waist and tickled her.

"Stop, stop!" Spencer laughed. He finally calmed down, and she looked up at him laying behind her. He kissed her softly on the lips. After they parted she rolled over to face him and propped her head up on her hand, "So what's this big important news?"

Alex pulled a thick white envelope out of his back pocket, "This."

"What is that?" Spencer asked in excitement.

"Look," Alex said and Spencer snapped the envelope out of his hand, rolling to sit up.

She looked over the envelope, then pulled out the contents, "You got accepted into Charrywood?"

Alex laughed, "Yes."

"Alex," Spencer was a little sullen now, "You didn't have to do that. I mean the tuition alone would cost you your paychecks for the whole first semester."

Alex wrapped his arms around her waist, "I wanted to. I didn't want you to be _all_ alone out there. I bet you don't even realize it, but you cut yourself off completely lately. The only people you've seen have been me and your parents, and I haven't even seen you in the last week and a half. You need someone."

"Alex," Spencer began to protest.

"No. No more arguments. I want to do this."

"You know you give me way more than I deserve. I should be the one giving to you," Spencer leaned her head against his chest.

"I don't need anything, especially from you," That was the first time in her life she'd ever heard those words said lovingly. It seamed that generally people said that to you when they wanted nothing more to do with you…

-Flashback-

Aria paced across the room, Emily sat at the kitchen count and Hanna was just standing against a wall.

Spencer sat alone on the living room couch.

"What are we going to do?" Aria asked.

"What can we do? We're pretty much screwed over already," Hanna said.

"I could talk to my dad, He might-"

"I don't need anything, especially from you!" Aria thundered turning to look at her with anger and resentment….

-Now-

"Spencer, Spencer, "Alex said trying to get her attention.

"Huh what?" she asked turning to him.

"See you're doing it again."

"Okay, maybe you're right," Spencer said trying to sound happier for his benefit, "You do the know the Charrywood Private Academy for Young Men is practically a different campus though."

"I know, I took the tour. We can still eat lunch together though."

"That's a bit of a hike," Spencer said thinking of the large grass covered hill that separated the two campuses.

"So what, we have two hours for lunch."

Spencer smiled wryly, "Yeah."

**(7 hours earlier)**

Jenna's mom walked her down the aisle of the church to the front pews. Jenna hated not being able to do it herself. There was so much she could do on her own, but her mom wouldn't let her find the front of the church on her own. It was no more difficult that counting lockers.

Janna sat down where her mother brought her. Then she heard a familiar voice from the back of the church, one that she had not expected to hear.

Emily had made a snap decision this morning, and gotten on a plain to the airport nearest Rosewood.

She hadn't intended on coming to Toby's funeral. She had moved to get away from all of this, to find closure within herself, but here she was.

Emily greeted Toby's mother and looked towards the front of the church to where Toby's coffin lay open.

Emily walked to the front of the church and looked down into the coffin. Her eyes started to tear up. _Why had she come? _She reached down into the coffin to stroke his cheek. His skin was cold and she couldn't bear it…

"Emily," A voice called from behind her. Emily whipped around to see Jenna sitting in the front pew.

"Jenna," Emily said and walked a little bit closer to her.

"What does he look like' Jenna asked sounding close to tears.

Emily bit her lip, "Just same as always," She laughed without humor, the way you do to a small child when something sad happens and you can't bring yourself to explain it to them honestly, "A little paler."

Jenna nodded, "Would you sit with me Emily." Jenna requested, and although Emily couldn't tell she was almost certain Jenna was crying.

"Okay," She said and went to sit by Jenna, taking her hand.

"I'd like it… if you spoke," Jenna said.

Emily was surprised, "Why?"

"Because you were the last person to see him. You were that last person he trusted. He was going to tell you everything you know. He would have told you himself if you hadn't ran."

Emily could no longer control her tears. _This is my fault_ she thought _this is all my fault…._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows**

Emily sat on a bench outside the church later that afternoon. Only 3 months ago she'd been right here for Allison's funeral... it all seemed surreal. She felt so alone and empty.

She hadn't believed Toby was dangerous, she had really liked him. But then her so called 'friends' got involved. They made her doubt her judgment and look where it had gotten her. It had gotten somebody else she loved killed.

Yes she had loved Toby. She was still confused. She didn't know if she loved him like you love a friend or if maybe her feelings were something more than that. But she did know by the pain and the whole she felt in her heart every time she thought of him... that was had loved him.

Aria sat on her bed her head lay back as she stared at the walls quietly. She wished things would not have happened the ways in which they did. They all were going in there own directions, separated, alone. When she had gotten back to Rosewood she knew things were going to be different, little had she known how different. It was like it were another world, like she were a complete other person. She sure didn't feel like the same Aria.

Despite their efforts, despite their stating that they would not let A get the best of them... they had failed. A had succeeded in tearing them apart, in breaking them, in killing her. Right here sitting in the dark bedroom alone there was no way to argue against it A had killed the old her. Maybe they hadn't physically hurt her, they had not dug a shallow grave and buried her but sometimes Aria wished that was what they had done. 'It would have been easier' she told herself.

A had torn her friends and her apart by the very thing that was supposed to keep friends close... secrets. A had drove away the guy that made her want to be alive. She could not take the silence or being alone anymore it made her just want to die.

Spencer sat on her bed kissing Alex. "You wanna know something" she whispered as they broke apart.

"Of course" he said smiling and brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"You truly are the best thing in my life right now" Spencer stated as she smiled and looked down and their intwined hands.

Alex smiled and kissed the top of her head gently.

"With you there I think I'm actually going to be okay. It's odd but I'm actually looking forward to Monday. I think a fresh start is what I need right now" she finished and looked up into his eyes.

He pulled her into a tight hug.

Spencer layed her head on Alex's chest. He made her feel safe and that was definitely something that she needed after the past few months. When he was holding her she felt as if everything was going to be okay.

"At least I hope it'll be okay" she whispered to herself so low that Alex could not hear.

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